SCOTLAND’S attainment gap between the richest and most deprived pupils in schools has grown since last year, with campaigners and politicians warning the system used to test students throughout the pandemic has entrenched inequality. 

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) results show those in the fifth most deprived areas achieved A to C grades at a lower rate than those in the fifth least deprived areas.

For higher education results, the difference went from 6.5 per cent in 2020 to 7.9 per cent, but both were down from pre-pandemic levels. 

Initial results show overall pass rates fell and the attainment gap widened in the second year of the pandemic-hit qualifications system.

Traditional exams were scrapped due to the pandemic, replaced with a teacher-led “alternative certification.”

Socialist Educational Association Scotland secretary David Watt said the government needed to give greater focus on areas of deprivation, instead of asking schools to tackle inequality themselves.

He told the Star: “[The government] has continued with the approach that will take no account of inequalities and is surprised when results come out and economic background turns out to be the biggest determining factor in attainment.”

Concerns followed last year’s scandal when thousands of pupils were downgraded based on their school’s past performance.

Scottish Greens education spokesman Ross Greer said the SQA had failed again. 

The MSP said: “Just like last year’s postcode-based moderation system before it was reversed, this year’s grades were adjusted against previous results at each school.

“This intense suspicion of working-class young people, who achieve just as much as their middle-class colleagues, shames Scotland.

“The purpose of education is to enable every young person to reach their full potential, not to sort the world into haves and have-nots.”

Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra said: “The result is that there are many young people, particularly in our poorest communities, who have not achieved the grades they had hoped, or deserved.

“The government should implement a ‘resit guarantee’ without delay, and offer a further education place to any young person impacted by the disruption of the pandemic who wishes to retake their subjects.”

SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson said a number of issues influenced results between years.

She said: “We’ve modified approaches to assessment to address disruption to learning, providing additional flexibility to deal with exceptional circumstances this year.”